Always Hope
by leiasky
Summary: Elrond feels guilt over his discussion with Aragorn before the man leaves Rivendell. *COMPLETE*


Title:  Always Hope

Author: meoinya

Synopsis:  Elrond's guilt over his discussion with Aragorn before he leaves Rivendell with the Fellowship    

Rating: PG

Spoilers: No

Pairing: Aragorn / Arwen.

Disclaimer: I'm not Tolkien. I don't own these characters. (darn!) I make no money. Done for fun.

Additional Info: Movie-verse.  

Archive: If you like, just tell me where

**"Always Hope"**

He closed his eyes as he watched the Fellowship depart the boarders of his land. Tears pooled below his lids, threatening to flow down cheeks untouched by ages of life in Middle-Earth. But now, with the end near, he could feel the passage of time more deeply and with more finality than he could even believe.  Not since the departing of Celebrian had Elrond felt such despair.

The world was changing. He could feel it in the wind, see it in the falling leaves, in the faces of those he loved, and could do nothing to stop it. He was trapped to watch from afar the events that would shape a new world – whether for good or ill. It was coming faster than he was prepared. A lifetime of waiting, and now time was running out.

What he would give to spare those he loved the coming pain.  He'd tried. Tried to speak to his beloved daughter of his foresight and she had only rejected his words. He could see the long road ahead, the road paved with a despair so deep it pained him to even think about it. Imparting that knowledge to his headstrong daughter had proved to be more of a challenge than he was accustomed. She rejected him at every turn, whispering through tear-filled eyes that there would always be hope. 

Giving up on his daughter,  he spoke with Aragorn. In the privacy of his own chambers, Elrond implored the would-be King of Gondor to abandon his pursuit of his beloved Arwen. Elrond cringed as he recalled the words that cut into Aragorn's heart even as they dripped from his foster-father's lips. The noble heir was not worthy of such a gem that was his immortal daughter.  The pain in his foster-son's eyes, when he'd implored the man to let his daughter go, nearly broke the elven Lord's heart. Aragorn tried to convince Elrond that his love for his daughter was pure and unending but the elven lord hardened his heart to this foolish mortal and looked only toward the day when his daughter would be  parted from the man she loved; whether it be by war, age, or untimely death. It would happen, and Arwen would feel such despair as had not been seen since the time of Beren and Luthien. 

They'd argued for far too long until Aragorn relented, unwilling, Elrond now knew, to cause his father and the woman he loved further pain. Elrond choked back a sob of despair as he remembered the pain in his foster son's eyes as he finally relented and walked away silently, head hung low in despair. The heartache Elrond harbored at the mere thought of being parted from his daughter was matched completely by that of his beloved brother's heir walking dejectedly away from his home and his heart.

Elrond knew not what transpired between her daughter and Aragorn, but the Evenstar's tears at the man's departure with the Fellowship felt like a thousand tiny daggers piercing his heart. He'd asked the son of his heart to let his daughter go, and Elrond was certain that is exactly what Aragorn had done.

The look on their faces as Aragorn turned to follow the ring-bearer could tell no other tale. He could see the hesitation in Aragorn's steps, the final glance toward his daughter as if there were more words to speak. But there were none, and as if Aragorn were lothe to cross father and daughter yet again, he simply turned and walked away.

Elrond sighed deeply, wishing the future could be changed.  It could not. He had seen Aragorn's death. He had seen the anguish in his daughter's eyes as she looked down at the man she loved, cold and lifeless. He had seen many futures for those he loved most dearly – and all of them had ended in despair. There would be far less pain if they felt its sting now. Elrond firmly believed it to be true and hardened his heart to any further attempts to change his mind.

"Ada?" Elrond heard the word but stood still as a statue, watching as the sun dipped below the mountains and plunged the hidden realm of Rivendell into darkness.

A firm hand on his shoulder pulled Elrond from his thoughts and he slowly whispered, his voice thick with emotion, "I've destroyed them, Elladan."

"I've just come from Arwen's chambers, I know of what you speak." Elladan said, his voice full of its own emotion.

"How bad?" Elrond feared to know how badly his daughter despised him. She had to know that whatever words Aragorn had spoken before he left, would not have come from his own heart. They would have come at the prodding of one he loved and respected, one he wished no harm or pain upon.

"Estel told her to take the ship to Valinor, that their love was only a dream, never to be more than a memory." Elladan could feel the prickle of tears at the corner of his eyes and he blinked rapidly to stop them from falling. He knew his sister loved his foster-brother more than anything in Middle-Earth, and what brought Aragorn to say these words could only have come from speaking with his father. Now Elladan wanted an explanation. "Why would he have said those things to her, father? When in all probability this quest will claim his life?"

"It is better for them to endure the pain of parting now, than in the future when their love has grown beyond measure."

Elladan breathed deeply. "What did you say to him?" Elladan knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that his father had interfered in the affairs of those he loved.

"I begged him to release Arwen to her homeland. To let her take the ship to Valinor to be with her people." The floodgate on Elrond's emotions spilled from his lips like the falls that surrounded his realm, stunning Elladan into complete silence. "I told him their love would never be forgotten in the undying lands. I told him that while he may love my daughter, the love I hold for her is greater than he could ever bestow." Elrond lowered his head and took a deep breath, his next words barely above a whisper. "I told him he was not worthy." 

"He is more worthy than any for her hand." Elladan whispered slowly, struggling to recover from this revelation. "And you made him feel unworthy. Think you this was a parting gift that will not remain through the quest? Will he not think of this at all turns now when all his thought should be directed to protecting the ringbearer?"

When his father didn't answer, Elladan continued, fueled by anger and his father's selfish actions. "What of his promise to you? Did you forsake that as well?"

Elrond whirled on his son, making no effort to wipe away the dried tears that marred his cheeks.

Elladan didn't give him leave to speak. Instead he continued, "I know of it. Estel has lived for that day. Through his fear and uncertainty, he has pushed himself toward the destiny to which he has been raised. He wanted nothing of it. And had you set Arwen's hands in his when they first proclaimed their love, it would not have come to this."

When Elrond tried to speak, Elladan held up a silencing hand, uncaring as to just whom he was speaking. "In all eyes but yours, Estel is Arwen's equal. No other man has ever loved and worshipped her so deeply. He made you a promise, a promise that he left this day to fulfill – even if it means his own death." Elladan grasped his father's arms and squeezed, the tears finally dripping from his eyes in anger. "He's done everything for her – and for you! And this is how you repay his dedication and his love? By filling his heart with so much despair and pain, leaving him no choice but to abandon his love for her because of you!"

"Enough!" Elrond turned from his son and strode away, without another word. Tears dripped unheeded down his cheeks and his mind wrestled with what he could do to make right what he had done so terribly wrong.

Aragorn was gone. On his reluctant shoulders rested the fate of Middle-Earth and in his protection, a small halfling who carried the most precious and dangerous thing in the world. 

And Elrond had ripped from this man the one thing that was constant in his life, the one thing he had to look forward to, when his wandering, his quest was ended; The love of his daughter and the promise that they would be wed.

-------------------------------------

Elrond wandered for hours before returning to his study. The flickering candles cast dancing patterns of light against the walls, against his books, manuscripts and maps. He sank into his chair with a heavy sigh and cradled his head in his hands.

"Their departure weights heavily on you?" Came a voice from the vicinity of Elrond's knees.

The elven Lord raised his head slightly to behold the cherubic face of Bilbo Baggins.

"More than you know, my friend." Elrond breathed.

Bilbo pulled a small stool over and settled onto it, his bones creaking with age as he did so. "I've added their story into my book," he began with a small smile. "It matters not how it ends, only that they will be remembered for as long as my book is read."

Elrond stared at the diminutive hobbit, head tilted in confusion.

Bilbo chuckled and patted Elrond's knee. "Aragorn and Arwen's story, of course. I've created a tale and chapter just for them. It is, of course, unfinished…." Bilbo trailed off, knowing that Elrond would continue for him.

Elrond nodded slowly. Of course he would know if their love. The hobbit had spent many a winter in Rivendell, and it was near impossible to not have been witness to, or heard the tales of the mortal man who had stolen the heart of Arwen Undomiel. "It is finished, Bilbo. Their story is over. I have destroyed it."

Bilbo stared compassionately at the elven Lord, noting the strain in his voice as he spoke. "Oh, I don't know about that. Love can heal a great many wounds."

"Would that were true, my friend." 

As Elrond glanced at the elderly hobbit, there was a hope and life lighting his eyes that made Elrond perhaps believe that there would be some happy ending in sight for those he loved most in Middle-Earth. He didn't believe it was possible.

But he could always hope.

END


End file.
